


Regina's Last Fight

by Saskwatche



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Evil Queen mayhem, Gen, Post Season 3, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 18:40:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4756901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saskwatche/pseuds/Saskwatche
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Elsa wasn't the Queen that was brought back into Storybrooke with Emma as she traveled through time? What would Regina do if she was to be framed for the crimes the Queen was commiting on her behalf? How would Regina get out of this sticky situation without killing her past/present self? What would the Queen want in Storybrooke anyway?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Regina's Last Fight

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [OUAT || The Evil Queen is coming in Storybrooke - Season 4 [AU]](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/142484) by Soussou18. 



**Storybrooke - present**

_“Marian?”_

He’s standing up and hugging her, the woman that a moment ago thought she was _‘evil’_ , and she can’t believe it. Can’t believe she’s there in the arms of _her_ Robin. The room is filled with laughter and happiness, but her world just crumbled a few moments ago… She can’t move, as if she’s glued to the ground, as if the universe wanted her to watch as everything she fought for burns up in flames before her eyes.

They talk, both of them, but she can’t hear it, her mind has tuned out of the conversation, as if it was trying to protect her from any more trauma, but she can see and her eyes are fixed on the _‘happy’_ family reunion taking place before her. The woman, _Marian_ , she remembers, is crouching taking in her arms the tiny tat that Regina has come to love like her own. The faint echo of a happy _‘mama?’_ reaches her ears and she can’t take it anymore. This hurts too much, and when she thought everything was coming up great, when she finally thought that fate was on her side…

Everything seems like it’s spinning around her, but she can’t move, can’t grip anything to steady herself to and she’s trapped. Staring at her soulmate and his wife hugging tightly and whispering soft words to each other, like she wasn’t even there, it makes her sick to her stomach. She feels the bile rise in her throat, her every sentiment seems to be acute and she can’t take it.

Hatred, anger, despair, shattered hopes, hurt and fury are storming inside her. Each one trying to fight the other to find out which emotion is gonna win the fight and decide how the next few seconds are going to play out.

Hurt is the one to win after all, snapping Regina out of her trance and giving her the chance to tear her moist and empty gaze away from the reunited family. It falls back on the stunned blonde standing not five paces away from her. Her viridian orbs are shinning with guilt and apologies, her mouth opens and closes as she tries to find something appropriate to say, but it’s no use, Regina has already taken a deep breath and is already starting to talk.

“You?” her voice is nothing more than a whisper, “You did this?” it is filled with all the emotion her blank face isn’t showing and as it breaks at the end of her sentence so does Emma’s heart.

The blonde is baffled she doesn’t know what to reply… She didn’t mean any harm, after all she only wanted to save a life and that is what she goes with as she speaks in a determined, yet humble voice.

“You’re just like your mother. Never thinking of consequences.”

 _She is hurt; of course she’s hurt Emma…_ the blonde thinks.

“I didn’t know-”

And that’s when the former Queen loses it, that’s when the hurt that had won the battle earlier gives way to the familiar warmth of her wrath. She’s seeing red, everywhere, her honeyed eyes are not sparkling with unshed tears anymore; they shine with a sort of madness that makes Emma flinch imperceptibly, because it is unknown yet so familiar.

“Of course, you didn’t,” Regina’s voice drops low and threatening, giving insight to the storm that is dreading to burst out of her, any given seconds, “Well, you’d just better hope to hell, you didn’t bring anything else back…”

Emma flinches once more at the small brunette’s words and she hopes, she hopes to all heavens she indeed didn’t bring back the darkness Regina has been fighting against for so long.

After a mere moment, the diner’s loud noises drop and everything is silent except for the tingling sound the bell of the door makes as Regina storms out of the restaurant. Everyone stands still, their gazes locked on Emma’s figure, no one dares to move and disturb the heavy silence the informal threat has brought.

.::.

Regina huffs loudly, passes her hands in her dark locks and tries vainly to gain back control over herself. What she had felt inside the diner was strong and she knows too well what it was, she had felt the hatred crawl under her skin and envelop her very soul, it was so strong it felt like the remnants of the monster she once was. She needs to be alone and cool off, but she knows that for whatever reasons the threat she made inside isn’t going to be enough and Swan is going to come after her. She’s certain of that and to confirm her certitude the bell of the diner’s door jingles loudly in the cold night.

Heavy footsteps are heard as they rush down the small steps of Granny’s establishment. Regina can’t help but sigh loudly once more.

“Not now, Swan.” Her tone is sharp and for anyone but Emma it would have ended the conversation right then, but of course since the blonde is as stubborn as the rest of the un-Charmings the former monarch knows this is going to end in a fight.

“I'm sorry. When I brought Marian back, I didn't know who she was. I didn't intend to cause you pain.” She says apologetically.

“Well, your intentions really don't matter, because once again, I've felt the brunt of heroism,” she takes a deep breath and her features turn into a small scowl, “Always the villain… even when I'm not.” She scoffs.

Regina is ready to leave and get this over with, maybe even leave town, it could be her best option right now… leave everything behind and only tell Henry where she’s going, but she decides against it as the Savior starts defending her actions.

“What was I supposed to do?” she says in a desperate tone.

“Well, you were dumb enough to travel through time. Maybe you should have left things well enough alone.” Regina can’t help but snap at her as she replies bluntly.

Emma’s emerald gaze turns cold and she huffs. She’s had enough of drama for a lifetime and this situation is only aggravating her feeling and it shows as she says with a sharp tone, “I am not gonna apologize for saving someone's life.”

“She was to die anyway. What did it matter?” the former Queen’s voice seems to break and it seems like she’s now pleading, but of course she’s not, she would never –not without forgetting all the lessons about being Queen that she’s received- she’s simply crushed once more.

“What mattered was she was a person, and whatever she did, she didn't deserve to die!” the blonde’s voice grows more and more unnerved. Why can’t Regina understand that she only did what she thought was best?

“Well, maybe she did!”

The brunette’s low growl is threatening, but it isn’t enough to cause Emma to back down. She’s growing tired of the situation, tired of Regina’s stubbornness and she’s on the verge of throwing insults, so what slips out of her mouth next was not supposed to sound like it did, but what is done is done.

“Well, you would know. I saved her from _you_.”

Regina gasps shocked, back then that wasn’t her –well not really anyway. That _thing_ was a monster who had been misguided into the darkness and whose hatred and hurt had been fed by her tormentor –the one she thought would help her find peace, and so that thing had taken control of her life and had screwed it all over as she foolishly thought that it would help her soothe her wounded spirit and soul.

“The woman who did that, that was the person I was, not the person I am. I worked very hard to build a future, a future that's now gone.” She’s yelling but it doesn’t matter anymore. She’s had enough and she isn’t going to wait around for everyone to come out and try to comfort her like you comfort a wounded animal.

 _“You don't know that,”_ are the last words Regina hears as she teleports away from this hellhole the blonde has created. She finds herself in the cemetery, in front of her mausoleum to be more precise and she hesitates. Should she really turn to her crypt in a moment like this, where all she can feel is pain and hatred? Should she really fall back into her old patterns?

Her mind decides against it, but out of instincts –and mostly because old habits die hard, her body has taken control and is now leading her inside. The doors creeks open and she swears it had been locked last time she’d been here, but maybe she just imagined it, maybe she forgot to lock the doors as she usually do, maybe…

But as she lies to herself, her eyes are seeing something completely different, something that can’t corroborate what she tells herself. After all she did lock the door last time as per usual, and someone did manage to penetrate inside her vault. It is now obvious as she watches her father’s coffin slid to the side and the entry to her darkest and deepest secrets revealed for everyone to see.

A pang of familiar anger hits her heart and upon instincts she summons a fireball to her hand, as her brows furrow and her eyes narrow into two thin slits. Whoever decided to intrude in her most private hideaway better have a damn good explanation for doing so, because tonight Regina is in no mood to fool around with some kid that thinks crossing the former Evil Queen is something they can simply do.

It is in this mindset that she walks toward the flight of stairs leading into the heart of the cemetery’s underground and that she sets upon her quest of finding whoever is hiding in there. Her heart is still pounding, her head is still spinning, but at least now she has someone she can make suffer and wish upon never setting foot in here to release a bit of the hatred and self-loathing she’s starting to fall back into…

.::.

**Rumpelstiltskin’s vault – mere moments before and after the Dark One lets go of Emma’s arm**

 

He feels his heart clench and he’s trying hard to repress the anger he feels at being unable to change what the blonde girl just told him. He’s told her that he could fix it, but now she’s almost crying, her eyes are filled with unshed tears, her voice is shaky and what she’s telling him is barely above a whisper as she pleads him to do what is best for the future of everyone including himself. He sees her lips move, but he can’t hear the sound of her voice, not until he hears it, _‘he died a hero. You can’t take that away from him. You have to drink the potion. You have to forget everything I just told you,’_ and it dawns upon him, that the blonde girl is right. He can’t take away from Bae the fact that he died saving others, he doesn’t know how, but he doesn’t care… he can’t take that away from his own flesh and blood, and so he makes up his mind.

He’s about to let her go and drink the damn forgetting potion he’s prepared, thus forgetting that the last couple of days ever happened, but as usual his infuriating apprentice storms in, shattering the dramatic moment happening right now…

She’s yelling… as if today was any different from the others.

“Rumpelstiltskin! I know you’re hiding in here, you coward! You promised me this would help me get rid of tha-” the rest of her sentence dies in her throat as the cloud of smoke clouding her sight dissipates, allowing her to see the events taking place before her. Her jaw slacks and her brown eyes screw shut as she takes in the brightness of the whirlpool illuminating the normally dark and gloomy vault of her master.

The room remains silent and so does she. A few heartbeats pass and she finally –yet tentatively- opens her eyes to take in what’s happening at the moment. The Dark One turns to face her, his hand still clutching tightly the wrist of a blonde haired young woman –that she is pretty sure she has seen somewhere before- and his face scrunches into something resembling a scowl.

“Dearie, I’m a bit busy at the moment, come back later!” he yells, his generally childish voice turning into a loud animalistic growl.

She doesn’t move, takes in the entirety of the spiraling vortex before her and then observes the woman that’s trying to fight her way off of Rumpelstiltskin’s vice like grip. Her master –well not really a master anymore, but the title stayed anyway- turns back to the woman he’s holding on to, he looks at her, leans in close and tells her that he will drink the potion and have her remember Bae as the hero he is –well more like was. He’s about to let her go once more, his hand unclenching, allowing her to get sucked into the brightness of the time vortex, but she won’t have it. Her hand raises and the woman stops, she can’t move, can’t scream and can’t even continue her way through the portal… not until the Queen has answers.

“Where does this lead to?!” her voice is imperious and demanding, letting Rumple know that his answer isn’t open to discussion.

He knows though that she isn’t simply asking because she wants answers, he knows she’s dying to go through, he’s certain that she will be the impulsive and dangerously incautious monarch she is and will jump in, but still he finds himself heeding her request and satisfying the hitch he knows has grown in her mind.

“The future, but if I were you I’d stay away from it.” She laughs, because she knows time travel is impossible and that the imp must then be playing her as he usually does.

“That’s impossible! You and I both know it! Cut the crap.” She threatens and he shrugs.

“Let the girl go and stay away from the portal, dearie. You have no business on the other side of that wretched thing.” He warns her as he opens a small vial and turns his back to her to drink the precious potion it contains. He knows the vortex will seal itself a few moments after the blonde has traveled back to her timeline.

She sighs, rolls her eyes at the newfound cautiousness of her most hated friend and waves her hand, allowing the woman to traverse the blinding whirlpool. However, she considers her options. Rumpelstiltskin is facing opposite of her, she is between the vortex and him, and if she truly wanted to she could just make a run for it. She’s not far from it and he couldn’t do anything about it…

He walks away, she watches him bend down to grab the wand of the Dark Fairy that’s lying on the cold slabs and she decides that now’s her chance. If she’s going to do it, if she’s going to take a peek at what the future holds for her, she better do it now. And so she makes a run for it, takes two long strides and jumps in.

The light around her is so pure it burns her eyes, even with her lids tightly shut, the magic of the portal swirling around her feels oddly familiar –another thing to add to the familiar things she’s seen today- and soon enough she feels as if every single atom in her body were being rewritten, disassembled and reassembled in an odd way.

In the Dark One’s vault, the spatiotemporal vortex fades out, its light burning out and leaving the room in its usual cold and darkness. Rumpelstiltskin looks around, a loud noise echoing in his vault as the unnoticed portal sealed shut. He briefly wonders why he’s here in the first place as his forgetting potion has already taken effect on him and then he looks at the object he’s holding. He sighs loudly, replaces the wand on a small display, grumbles something about being here and vanishes in a flashy cloud of red smoke, going back to his cozy armchair near the fireplace in his castle…

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you've enjoyed this! I'm still here posting, but to be honest lately I've been of ff.net slightly more. (Got two fics running there...) Please note that my other fic is presently on haitus but it's not dead, I'm still really working hard on it. Do leave your impressions down below, I'll be glad to come back to you. :3


End file.
